City begins Tudor drain relocation project

Tyler Juranovich, Kokomo Tribune, Ind.
·2 min read

Mar. 8—A large-scale relocation of a regulated drain needed for the construction of the EV battery plant has begun.

Last week, the Howard County Drainage Board approved entering into a memorandum of understanding with the city of Kokomo pertaining to the project. It was one of the last hurdles for the relocation project to officially commence, Greg Lake, county stormwater district administrator, and Jon Pyke, director of engineering for the city of Kokomo, said.

According to the MOU, the city is facilitating the design and bearing the costs of the relocation project subject to approval from the Howard County Drainage Board.

Phase one of the project was awarded to E.S. Wagner Company in January for $3.2 million.

It includes rerouting a section of the Tudor Drain, and thus stormwater that comes in from both the east and west, around the battery plant to the west and eventually back to a drain that runs just south of the EV battery plant.

Currently, a 66-inch drain runs through the middle of the parcel the EV battery plant is being built on. That section of drain will be cut off from the surrounding drain tiles during the relocation project and will become inactive, Lake said.

A series of bonds totaling more than $33 million the city approved the issuance of last year for infrastructure improvements at the project site are slated to pay for the Tudor Drain relocation project, according to City Controller Wes Reed.

Tax increment financing revenues are officially pledged to pay off the bonds, though city officials previously told the Tribune the city intends to use the $1.75 million a year payment in lieu of taxes payment (PILOT) StarPlus Energy has agreed to pay to the city. The PILOT payments begin May 1, 2024, and are to be paid on or before May 1 every year thereafter for 20 years.

Phase two of the Tudor Drain Relocation project has yet to be approved by the drainage board or bid out.

That phase, which will be the final phase of the relocation project, will include the creation of a handful of stormwater basins and their interconnections on county- and possibly state-owned properties located around the battery plant, Lake said.

Tyler Juranovich can be reached at 765-454-8577, by email at tyler.juranovich@kokomotribune.com or on Twitter at @tylerjuranovich.